1. Here you will find official announcements and updates. These announcements are also linked in the Official SotA Discord server.
    We encourage comments from the community! To keep the announcements official, we ask that comment threads be created in the General forums for player input.

                                                 Thanks!

Testing Incentives Program Reinstated (as a Lottery)

Discussion in 'Announcements' started by DarkStarr, Sep 20, 2017.

Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.
  1. liz_the_wiz

    liz_the_wiz Avatar

    Messages:
    1,365
    Likes Received:
    2,033
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Gender:
    Female
    Previously it was 4 hours of activity, not just 4 hours - right now I can almost see a following scenario

    I have 10 accounts (dont judge me! I paid for 6 to be dev+ so I could qa them - of course when you had to pay for the privilage!)
    I log all 10 into qa , I sit 9 afk, and run around the game with 1, i find me 10 bugs, while occasionally poking my other toons, I then use each of my 10 accounts to log 1 bug. Suddenly now I have 10 out of whatever chance of winning something.

    I think if you wish to split hairs and be pedantic it did say 1 reward per PERSON so Id like to hope that if someone did that even if initially all 10 accounts won, only 1 reward would be given and the other 9 rerolled.

    I also cant help but feel that opening QA didnt achieve what was expected hence the return of the incentives. I saw less people on last month than ever before, and less bugs in the forums, I just wish it had been slightly different.

    People like @Alley Oop worked real hard to get all their bug rewards, i just feel sad that the effort people like that went to to earn the rewards is now just handed out for 4 hours play and 1 bug.

    I like @Spoon 's idea of the tapered rewards
     
    yinki2, Mykll, By Tor and 6 others like this.
  2. Spoon

    Spoon Avatar

    Messages:
    8,403
    Likes Received:
    23,554
    Trophy Points:
    165
    Gender:
    Male
    Location:
    Sweden
    There were 4 tiers in the old program. Only the rewards for t1 and t2 in those seem mentioned here. Also the titles that were in the old is not here.
    So if they change it to my proposal of keeping the ratio then I think it will be somewhat Ok.

    I think that is how it was in the end.

    At the start I did some combat test vs an alt. While my spoon account had the hours the alt didn't. But they both ended up getting the 5 crowns.
    So I reported that as an exploit.
    Later release I did some guild warfare testing. Where both Spoon and the alt easily did the qualifying hours but where only Spoon got the 5 crowns.

    So I think it detects and consolidate that.
     
  3. Senash Kasigal

    Senash Kasigal Avatar

    Messages:
    1,202
    Likes Received:
    2,685
    Trophy Points:
    125
    Gender:
    Male
    Location:
    Germany
    Thtas not allowed by Forum rules:

    "
    Multiple Accounts

    While players may create multiple accounts for the game, they are allowed only one normal play account for access to the Forums. If you need to have more than one forum posting account, please let us know and we will consider it on a case-by-case basis. An extra account exception may be made for accounts specific to managing a community fan site or guild.

    If a player is found to have duplicate forum play accounts, we will lock or moderate these "alt" accounts at our discretion. All offenses that occur on one account will also apply to every other account under the user's influence.
    "
     
    Moiseyev Trueden likes this.
  4. Rufus D`Asperdi

    Rufus D`Asperdi Avatar

    Messages:
    6,347
    Likes Received:
    15,785
    Trophy Points:
    165
    Gender:
    Male
    Location:
    Austin, TX
    I understand how my question might be so interpreted... I knew that it would so be as soon as I typed it... I don't intend to spend the requisite hours on the test server with all my accounts to qualify for the lottery... However I also don't wish to risk a forum ban simply for reporting a bug on the forums with an alternate account, this being normally a bannable offense.
    I hope this is correct, and would allay Black Knight's fear of my attempt to game the system, however my question is still a valid one, and one I would like an answer to.
     
    Last edited: Sep 21, 2017
    liz_the_wiz and Moiseyev Trueden like this.
  5. By Tor

    By Tor Avatar

    Messages:
    2,362
    Likes Received:
    4,717
    Trophy Points:
    165
    Gender:
    Male
    I don't agree with this new program. If you have a player who spends countless hours playing and tediously submitting bugs in detail and another player who plays the minimum 4 hours and then posts one bug - they both have an equal chance of being rewarded an incentive prize? That doesn't seem right at all.

    Why not just go back to the old incentives program but limit it to just QA. That will still cut down on massive duplicates since, as far as I know, most players avoid QA.
     
    Last edited: Sep 21, 2017
  6. Browncoat Jayson

    Browncoat Jayson Legend of the Hearth

    Messages:
    6,334
    Likes Received:
    14,098
    Trophy Points:
    153
    I personally just don't have the time to play on QA; I barely have time to play on live. Yet every time I run across a bug in the game I'll search the forums to see if its been reported, /bug it, and provide detail. I make sure to review the release notes that Starr posts and provide feedback and suggestions. However, since I'm not going to take time to log into QA, I won't be eligible for this program. Previously, there were rewards available from live, just not the COTOs. Since that was a reward that somewhat justified spending time away from the live game, it was understandable.

    I can see why they are making this change, but I'm not a fan. Just like all of the game mechanics that are currently causing much pain, hiding things behind a RNG is not fun for anyone involved. It invariably leads to some people getting multiple rewards before someone else gets any, and drives away any incentive to participate. Eventually, you will get to the point where only the dedicated bughunters are doing it (and many of us were doing it before there were rewards), the rewards are only going to that group, who end up with multiples of each (unlike the previous system, where it was one per account) and they sell them on live for others. At the same time, the number of eyes on the beta drop considerably, and we end up with more patches after each release.

    So, as I intended already, I'll look at buying an ant farm in-game at some point. Sorry, I wish I could help test more but time is limited.
     
  7. Sentinel2

    Sentinel2 Avatar

    Messages:
    1,109
    Likes Received:
    1,811
    Trophy Points:
    113
    I thought part of the complaint was there were duplicate bug reports and thus they discontinued the incentives program.

    Will there be a better way of researching whether a bug has been submitted? It's been frustrating that I spent precious time, find a bug, research the forums, found nothing, post and get a note that it's well known.

    ARGG!!

    I'm very interested in helping. I don't see how anything has changed. Or did I miss something?
     
  8. Weins201

    Weins201 Avatar

    Messages:
    7,121
    Likes Received:
    10,958
    Trophy Points:
    153
    I am sorry again that I do not see it as QA just 1 week earlier release since it is open to all why not just release it a week earlier. They should have left it open to Dev + as it was. They are now coing to be overloaded with repeat bugs and spend 75% of their time filtering out junk. I know they need to have QA tested - should have left it alone.

    The problem was with the fact that information that could give players a clear edge with new updates. Especially ones that effected the economy - simple solution anything that could affect the economy could just be held out until actual release. But that would counter QA . . . . .

    Sooo - Since the game is still in testing and now QA is open to all then "QA" and its rewards can just roll over and stick with bug reports just like was originally done (release a week early). Sure Dev+ had a head start That can be our reward and most already have the base rewards - new players can just catch up by reporting good viable bugs, old players can either bug hunt or just play away. Eventually newer players should catch up if they put the time / effort in if not, oh well.
     
  9. Turk Key

    Turk Key Avatar

    Messages:
    2,561
    Likes Received:
    4,012
    Trophy Points:
    153
    Gender:
    Male
    We should not assume that there will be more than 20 bug testers. There may be unclaimed rewards even with the rng.
     
  10. By Tor

    By Tor Avatar

    Messages:
    2,362
    Likes Received:
    4,717
    Trophy Points:
    165
    Gender:
    Male
    +1

    Completely unfair to the people who have spent a lot of time on bugs and unfair to the people who will spend a lot of time on bugs. This encourages people to do the minimum work for an incentive lottery ticket. I sincerely hope the devs re-think this program.
     
    Sentinel2 likes this.
  11. Widsith [MGT]

    Widsith [MGT] Avatar

    Messages:
    714
    Likes Received:
    646
    Trophy Points:
    93
    Might I suggest that the rewards under the new system differ, at least cosmetically, from those which were won under the old system? That wouldn't require any new modeling, just new colors/textures.
     
  12. By Tor

    By Tor Avatar

    Messages:
    2,362
    Likes Received:
    4,717
    Trophy Points:
    165
    Gender:
    Male
    That would be a good idea if they continue to move forward with this bad idea. The old bug rewards would at least mean something to the players who actually put in legitimate time and effort in earning their rewards - instead of just randomly winning a lottery.
     
  13. E n v y

    E n v y Avatar

    Messages:
    4,641
    Likes Received:
    12,961
    Trophy Points:
    165
    Gender:
    Male
    Location:
    England
    If they really want players to invest their own time outside standard gameplay to track down bugs and issues then they need to offer something more than a lottery ticket.

    I get the whole thing over duplicate submissions ......however tbh that is very much Ports issue for not making it easy for players to check. I also have to say that if Port doesn't want to spend time and money to sort bugs out properly, what makes them think players will give up their own time on the off chance they might win some pixels.

    If they want players to be serious about submitting bugs then empower them to do so efficiently.......if they don't then maybe they need to pony up the cash and employ their own bug hunters.
     
  14. Koldar

    Koldar Avatar

    Messages:
    1,952
    Likes Received:
    4,886
    Trophy Points:
    125
    Location:
    Novia
    The primary reason I purchased an account at the level I did. Anything over dev+ was pure p2w. Anyone who's been around the mary-go-round a few times saw that potential during KS. I don't believe I'm the only person who has stopped playing since Dev+ lost that 1-2 week lead time. If I'm going to invest my time, I expect to get something for it.

    Honestly, IMO the duplicate bug entries should have helped drive a prioritization list if they where properly managing the bug submissions. And each one of those duplicate bug reporters should have been rewarded for their time they spent QA'ing a buggy piece of software. There is nothing more frustrating that spending hundreds of hours testing and reporting bugs only to be told your countless submissions weren't good enough to count. Hello, free labor. You get what you pay for.
     
  15. Rosemourne

    Rosemourne Avatar

    Messages:
    339
    Likes Received:
    1,125
    Trophy Points:
    43
    I'm curious as to why the COTOs are included in the lottery? They used to be a blanket for people playing on the QA and reporting bugs, which led me to consistantly log in and play. I'm sure this gave you data and I reported bugs as I found them, several of which I know were fixed because of it. If I'm not even guaranteed COTOs for my 4 hours, I can say with certainty I won't even log into QA, much less look for a bug that hasn't already been submitted.

    I've participated in most of the raffles for land because I'm guaranteed a ticket to display in my home. I have not won a single deed, nor do I generally care to, I'm happy with the tickets. If the deed tickets weren't in game, I'd never touch the raffle.

    With that in mind, I feel like having COTOs as a blanket reward and just the extras as a raffle would certainly add incentive for those who don't like the raffle approach.
     
    Last edited: Sep 27, 2017
  16. Koldar

    Koldar Avatar

    Messages:
    1,952
    Likes Received:
    4,886
    Trophy Points:
    125
    Location:
    Novia
    Curious to see if their new 'rewards' substantially increases the number of people on qa.
     
    By Tor and Weins201 like this.
  17. Weins201

    Weins201 Avatar

    Messages:
    7,121
    Likes Received:
    10,958
    Trophy Points:
    153
    remember they opened QA up to everyone so should have just by raw numbers avail to go in, but that was last release and they took rewards away which porb is why they have ot try and entice players back.
     
    Koldar and By Tor like this.
  18. liz_the_wiz

    liz_the_wiz Avatar

    Messages:
    1,365
    Likes Received:
    2,033
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Gender:
    Female
    @Weins201 id be interested in how many did QA under dev+, how many last month and how many this month actually did say 4+ hours
     
    Koldar, Jens_T, Spoon and 3 others like this.
  19. Koldar

    Koldar Avatar

    Messages:
    1,952
    Likes Received:
    4,886
    Trophy Points:
    125
    Location:
    Novia
    I'm guessing that number can be counted on two hands. ;)
     
    By Tor and liz_the_wiz like this.
  20. Fionwyn Wyldemane

    Fionwyn Wyldemane Avatar

    Messages:
    1,841
    Likes Received:
    6,079
    Trophy Points:
    125
    Gender:
    Female
    Location:
    Chicago, IL
    Here's my question - when did QA rewards become an entitlement??

    Long before there were any rewards, many of us were doing QA bug hunting. I've been doing it for over 2.5 years and much of that time there were NO extra rewards. The reward was helping to ferret out bugs so the game wasn't as buggy when the release went live. The reward was the knowledge that you and I were helping make the game better. Bugs can kill games. Or at least make them unenjoyable.

    There were issues with the way bugs were being reported and so the program was suspended. I personally saw many duplicate bugs being reported and many times bugs were reported without even following the protocols for reporting them. It's as if some people didn't care how sloppy or lazy they were as long as they reported bugs trying to qualify for rewards. That's shame on the community.

    Now the program has a new iteration. Why all the sour grapes? No one is entitled to extra rewards for bug testing, this is a thank you gift from Portalarium. Why all the gimme, gimme? It's like some people on the forums are little kids with their sticky hands out looking for more treats and having fits if they don't get them. That's shame on the community AGAIN.

    I am sooo tired of the constant complaining about every...single...thing, especially when the Devs are trying to reward the community and getting slammed for it. Test or don't test. Do it or don't do it. But for the love of God, please stop haranguing the Devs over this.
     
    Numa, Astor Cerberus and Alley Oop like this.
Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.